It seems to me that we're in one of the finest gaming eras ever. There is a dizzying number of sensational games from smaller/indie developers. Innovation, excellent design, and good value.

On the big company side, we have a bloated QTE experience like The Order: 1886, released today after endless hype, which is currently pulling an absolutely expected 68 on Metacritic. Ouch.

You can't afford to innovate if you're charging $60 for a game (and a short one, at that).

The entire economic model for $60 games seems to have collapsed. Yes, there are still annual franchises being milked, but new franchises at that price point have essentially vanished.

That's okay, though. Most of those games weren't any damn good, anyway. The small indie games are--in the best cases--being built with so much care and craftmanship that they're a real pleasure to play, and there are so many indie games that if even 5% excel, we have a huge variety to choose from.

Oh, and while I'm mentioning games, don't forget Rebel Galaxy. It's already fantastic, and will only get more so by the time it releases.